Scoping review of interventions to link individuals to substance use services at discharge from jail

Individuals with substance use disorders (SUD) must be linked to community-based SUD treatment and other services upon their release from jail, given their high service needs and risks for relapse, recidivism, and opioid-related overdose following release.

This scoping review identified 14 studies (28 affiliated publications) that used experimental or quasi-experimental designs to evaluate jail re-entry interventions for individuals with SUD. The team coded intervention components, study characteristics, and study outcomes based on a service continuum for treatment linkage and retention and for post-release substance use and criminal justice outcomes.

This review included 4 randomized controlled trials (RCT) for linkage to treatment with medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD); 4 RCTs and 4 quasi-experimental studies for linkage to non-specific SUD treatment; and 2 RCTs for linkage to HIV + SUD services. Most studies (9/14) used case management and/or peer or patient navigation as the core intervention; 2 studies provided medical management for MOUD induction and/or facilitated referral to MOUD in the community; and 3 studies used motivational-based linkage interventions. A qualitative analysis of study outcomes found evidence to support the effectiveness of a diverse range of interventions to link individuals to community-based SUD treatment, MOUD, and other services at re-entry, but limited support for intervention effects on longer-term outcomes, including treatment retention, medication adherence, recidivism, and substance use.

Future controlled trials and implementation studies should help to unpack and examine core components of jail re-entry interventions and their successful implementation to enhance treatment retention and improve post-release outcomes.